Five British teenagers are among the 20 contestants who will take on World No.1 Luke Littler live on Netflix on Friday at 7pm, with a grand prize of £501,000 on offer for anyone who beats him in a single leg of darts.
The show, titled 'Beat Luke Littler', features 20 amateurs, rising stars and darts fans, whittled down from 24 on the night. Littler, who is 19, is a two-time world champion and is under pressure to deliver and keep the show close to its three-hour runtime.
Contestants include Fallon Sherrock and a Nando's manager
Viewers may recognise some contestants, including Fallon Sherrock, who became the first woman to win a match at the PDC World Championship in 2019. Lesser-known entrants include a Nando's restaurant manager, a bricklayer, and a driving instructor.
Some of the contestants are not old enough to have full-time jobs, let alone be professional darts players.
Makinley Cooper-Johnson, 14, from Wrexham
Makinley Cooper-Johnson, from Wrexham, was chosen by a panel that included darts icon Phil Taylor, who has been giving him tips on how to beat Littler. Cooper-Johnson told BBC Wales: "My best mate Phil! I was in bed half-asleep when Mum came in with the phone. When I heard who it was, I was out of bed, stood up, almost saluting, and he personally told me I had a place in the live show."
The Welsh teenager added: "Look, I'm not saying I'm world class or anything, but I can hold my own. I've got a shot at this."
Jayden Walker, 14, from Christchurch
Jayden Walker, the joint-youngest competitor, comes from Christchurch, Dorset. When he was 12, Walker beat Luke Humphries by averaging 102. That performance prompted Humphries to label Walker 'the best 12-year-old [player] I've ever seen in my life'. Walker told Sky Sports: "My mum always tells me I have to finish my homework before I can go out to a night of darts. Because I love darts so much, I sort of make myself do the homework."
He added: "[One of my favourite subjects is] maths - it helped me in darts, because during lockdown when I first started playing, I started focusing on it. The only schoolwork they set us was maths. I just did maths and all those mental arithmetics helped me with my game, with all the shots out."
Mitchell Lawrie, 15, from Renfrew
Mitchell Lawrie, from Renfrew in Scotland, has already won the World Youth Championship twice. He recalled to BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast: "It was at the World Cup junior darts in Gibraltar in 2023, Scotland against England and we beat the team that Luke Littler was in. We beat them 4-3 in a deciding leg and it's one of those memories that sticks with you forever. We also went on to win that tournament."
Kasey Smith, 16, from Manchester
Kasey Smith, the most local contestant, will not have far to travel to reach the Manchester Central Convention Complex. She has been chosen to play for Greater Manchester County Youth, and has only been playing darts for a year, having been encouraged to take up the sport by a pub colleague. Previously, she was a competitive Morris dancer, and she is an aspiring criminologist.
Taylon Forrester, 18, from Bedford
Taylon Forrester, a rubbish collector from Bedford, is known as The Trash Man. If he takes home the jackpot, he will fly his family to Jamaica to meet relatives they have never met. He is also a huge fan of The Inbetweeners and has rewatched every episode.
